Zachary is 5!!

With Zachary's birthday being a week after Christmas and still having a new baby we decided that having a party OUT of the house would be the best fit for us this year. I LOVE my sweet boys but I didn't need to have 15 5 year old boys running through my house...So, we opted for the Bounce House down the street. I think it worked out pretty well. Since re-opening they have added 36 arcade games (set to FREE play) as well as the bouncers...a little boy's dream! Actually, some of the boys wouldn't leave the games and sat glossy eyed the whole time until the cake. This year we didn't need to worry about decorating, cleaning, prepping for games and yet, long before the party started I found this...

Josh and Olivia were completely asleep on the couch (even with the others climbing all over them).

The Birthday Boy!

Zac, Elise and Vivien (the ONLY "girl" invited to his party...not counting family)

the arcade... need I say more?!

cupcakes and juice. Zac wanted Red icing to go with his "bakugan" party. I had to use an entire tube of red gel food coloring to get it looking like that...that cannot be healthy!

I'm pretty sure Thomas just ate the icing!

Olivia slept the whole time...

Present time...

We can't believe our Zachary is getting so big! He amazes us with how friendly, thoughtful and creative he is. He flashes that big smile and no matter what he's done you can't be mad for long! He'll have you laughing at his jokes or one liners and trying to follow his VERY detailed stories. We sure love you Zac!

Olivia at 2 Months

What a sweet little girl. Olivia is smiling so much more. Finding her fingers. Sleeping great. Could it get any better?

Merry Christmas!

I realize that this post is a "little" past due but Christmas isn't something that I can just skip over. We had a WONDERFUL Christmas! Christmas Eve was spent with good friends having an AMAZING dinner. When we returned home the elves had left some Christmas pj's on our door step for the kids...I have never seen them get changed so fast! Christmas morning was so fun (as always). Everyone slept in!!! which is normally great but this year we were having one group of people over for a late breakfast (Josh made crepes with ALL the fixings). and we were hosting the Residents for a potluck dinner that night. So, we were a little behind schedule but managed to have some fun during the chaos.the kids opening their gifts from Santa

Thomas, wishing he could read...

Elise and her LONG awaited Baby Alive Doll that eats and goes potty. She changed about 10 diapers before we finished breakfast!

This is how Olivia spent her first Christmas...

the unwrapping of the Wii!!!

Most of the group.

I'm not sure how it happened but I failed to get any pictures of either of our meals that day. The breakfast was delicious. We enjoyed visiting with the Schell's and the missionaries. Dinner was VERY tasty!! I'm pretty sure that was the juiciest turkey I have ever had! The best part about Christmas dinner is the leftovers...and we enjoyed those for a few days! It was a Wonderfully EXHAUSTING day.

Olivia

Here are a few pictures of Olivia at about 6 weeks. She is smiling so much more and lately we've even heard a few giggles sneak out. She is sleeping through the night now and we're able to get a little bit of a routine in place it seems. We sure love this "sweet little peanut" as Thomas calls her.

Blessing Day

Olivia was blessed at church on December 6th. My Dad was able to make a quick trip in to town for the occasion as well. We sure love having my Dad for a visit! Olivia tends to be a little fussy lately so we didn't get too many pictures before changing her out of the dress. I bought this dress when Zachary was about 8 months old, hoping that I would have another girl that would be able to use it so that morning the tags finally came off (I probably should have tried it on her before we got to church but thankfully it fit just fine).

I wasn't going to use the bonnet but Elise insisted that it would look SOOOO adorable! (I think she has been waiting for someone to wear this dress too!).

Olivia at 1 month

Here are a few pictures of Olivia at 1 month. She is such a sweet baby. I just love those kissable cheeks!!

Zac's tooth

Well, Zachary had his first cavities. They were planning on putting on a chrome cap once they fixed it and Zac was pretty excited about having a shiny metal tooth too! Once they took another look at the x-ray they realized that it was already infected and had cracked...so they told him that his tooth was wiggly and they were going to see if they could "wiggle it a little more" and give it to the tooth fairy. Zac was THRILLED! Well, after a little "kiddie cocktail", some nitrous oxide and a little numbing he was D-R-U-N-K! (those were the dentist's words). He was feeling a little silly and wanted to know what he looked like so we snapped a few pictures while the meds were setting in...

By this point he was trying to put the rubber nose on his shoes and would slur his words and giggle at everything!

Here is his Molar. The roots were HUGE! it was almost a surgical extraction. Zac was such a trooper! Even once all the meds wore off he never once complained about his mouth being sore. Infact, he would stop everyone he saw to show them the hole in his mouth, inform them that he is not allowed to eat sticky stuff and show them his $1 that the tooth fairy left him. What a good kid!

Grandma Baker

We were THRILLED to have Grandma Baker came for a visit! My Mom got here just a couple days after I got home from the hospital and we were so happy to have her here and SO sad to see her go! Elise would read to her, Zac told her stories from sun up to sun down, Thomas got in some (much needed) snuggles and some story time in his favorite "I Spy" book and Olivia...well you can see for yourself. Little babies sure love to cuddle up in Grandma's arms! To top it all off, my house had never been so organized and tidy!

Thomas "reading" Grandma his book.

I love those sleepy smiles...they're just tough to catch on camera!

Thanks Mom! We are So glad you came!!

All Things Halloween...

With Olivia arriving ON Halloween I haven't actually posted about the festivities leading up to the occasion. This is of the kids before heading out for the church "Trunk-or-Treat" that I had been in charge of. I love how Zac is winking at me! (click the picture to see it better).

Thomas went trick or treating with one of the Young women so I could snap a few pictures of the event.

It was SOOOOOO COLD! We had Hot chocolate and donuts waiting for us inside. The kids had to run from car to car just to stay warm!!

This is Elise at her school Halloween parade.

Zachary, at his preschool parade (we forgot his costume so he borrowed something from the dress up chest in his classroom...he was THRILLED!)

Just a few hours after this picture was taken we were heading to the hospital to be induced! That was a very crazy day!!